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For a split second, I couldn’t assimilate what had happened, but my reflexes took over. I rotated my pistol to the biker and saw him racing away, Brett chasing him with his own pistol out. The biker jumped down the small set of stairs at the bottom and disappeared.

Aaron came on, saying, “Couple coming up about to enter. What’s the status?”

I said, “Stall them.”

Brett came racing back to me and said, “What the hell just happened?”

I said, “I don’t know. Find the drive. Get the drive.”

We ripped through his clothes, Brett finding a thumb drive in his jacket pocket. He held it up and I said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

We speed-walked down the ramp and stairs, passed Aaron asking a couple for directions, and then began sprinting up the street, me on the net saying, “All elements, all elements, abort, abort, abort. Meet back at the hotel.”

Chapter 27

George Wolffe finished his overview of Pike’s actions in Switzerland and paused, waiting on the inevitable questions from the Oversight Council. Unfortunately for him, the lead-off batter was President Hannister himself.

He leaned back in his chair and said, “So we gave you authority to capture this guy in Switzerland, and you killed him instead. That’s not something I would expect with Taskforce operations. You are the scalpel I use when absolutely necessary, not a killing force like Putin employs. This guy was in no way DOA. I never said that, and from your briefing, I’m unsure if that’s exactly what Pike executed.”

DOA was a Taskforce designation rarely employed, meaning the threat was so great to United States interests that the target could be neutralized dead or alive. It was the closest designation in the United States government sanctioning an assassination, but only if capture was not feasible, and only if the threat was so great it posed an existential threat.

It was one more example of the illegality of the unit, because it directly went against EO 12333, an executive order that prohibited assassination signed by President Hannister, like every president before him since Gerald Ford had created it. Wolffe knew the delicate nature of the designation, not the least because he knew how Taskforce operators treated it when assigned.

When it was given, the Taskforce operators colloquially called it “Dead on Arrival,” because it was much easier to kill a man thancapture him. If DOA was given, nine times out of ten, the target was going home in a body bag. But that wasn’t what had happened here.

Wolffe said, “Sir, as I said, Pike didn’t kill him. Someone else did, and we think it was precisely to keep Pike from knowing what was in his head. In my opinion, the Israelis may be right on this. There’s something more at play than Keta’ib Hezbollah. This isn’t Iran pulling strings because we killed General Soleimani.”

“The Israelis? They’re breaking down my door through back channels to attack Iran using nothing more than letters as proof. They’re pushing me to a place I don’t want to go. And they’re not the only ones. I have bipartisan commendation of Iran building exponentially. The death of Gabrielle in Italy is going to force my hand, regardless of the truth.”

Wolffe knew the pressure he was under. One only needed to turn on the television to see the massive number of “experts” preening about regime change in Iran.

He said, “I meant the small section of Mossad that gave Aaron and Shoshana the mission. There are some who think this is deeper than just Iran projecting power through proxy forces.”

Alexander Palmer chuckled and said, “Well, that would be good news, if it’s true. Please tell us you have something to prove it.”

Wolffe flipped a slide on the screen, showing the two messages from the courier. He said, “Unfortunately, no, I don’t. All Pike was able to glean was a lead. There’s a linkup planned for the transfer of money to a Keta’ib Hezbollah cell in Bahrain. They’re apparently targeting someone in that country. We don’t know who the target might be, but wedoknow where they’re going to meet for the transfer of the funds.”

Palmer said, “AnotherKeta’ib cell? How is this not proof in and of itself? We aren’t talking about a letter here supposedly created by an imposter.”

President Hannister said, “Where’s the money coming from? Who’s the paymaster?”

Wolffe used a laser pointer and went through the two messages. “The cell thinks it’s Iran, but Pike doesn’t. The guy coming is from Bosnia—apparently some sort of trained killer—and the entire linkup plan is strange. If it were Iran, they’d just order the guys to meet. In this case, the first message is asking, not telling, and it’s not some Qods Force trainer like Iran would ordinarily send. It’s a Bosniak assassin.”

The secretary of defense said, “Iran was neck-deep in Bosnia during the war there. A Bosniak involved doesn’t seem that strange to me. Sounds more like plausible deniability.”

Amanda Croft said, “Can’t we track the money backwards? From the guy who was killed?”

“We have his laptop, and the network operations guys are going through it remotely right now, but from what Pike’s seen, the contact had pretty good operational security. He doesn’t think anything’s going to be on it.”

Palmer started to ask another question and President Hannister interrupted, saying, “We’re not going to get anywhere from inside the Oval Office. What are you asking here? What’s the next step?”

Wolffe said, “Sir, let Pike take the team to the linkup in Bahrain. He’s convinced the Bosnian is the key here. Pike wants Omega to roll him up. He’s bringing the money, and he’ll obviously know where it came from. If it’s Iran, at least you’ll have solid evidence instead of shooting in the dark. If it’s not, we’ll have the thread to pull it apart—and Pike’s starting to think it’s not.”

Palmer said, “Based on what?”

Wolffe said, “Based on his intuition. He’s the man on the ground.”

Hannister looked around the room and said, “Put it to a vote.”